Right Here Waiting
by Lady Une-chan a.k.a. Mirai
Summary: A fic that took me five months to write. Bright thinks about his relationship with Mirai in MSG. Starts off kind of angsty, but has a happy ending. Beware of spoilers!


Right Here Waiting

By Lady Une-chan a.k.a. Mirai

Disclaimer: I don't own _Mobile Suit Gundam_. Yoshiyuki Tomino and the folks at Sunrise do.

I heard one sob after another. Sure, we had won the Battle of Solomon, but victory was not what was on everyone minds. I think that we all were distracted by the constant weeping. Slowly, the sound traveled farther.

Amuro looked at me. "Go to her."

I bit my lip. As much I'd like to, I had an entire crew to take care of. I had to act like a commander. But it seemed that everyone on the bridge wanted me to go comfort the crying helmswomen. My feelings for her were becoming too apparent to the rest of crew. They were almost acting like matchmakers.

After I stopped to remove my normal suit, I headed down to her bedroom, were the weeping became louder once more. I knocked on the door. "Mirai?"

There wasn't really an answer, but the crying became softer, as if she was trying to compose herself. I slowly opened the door.

Mirai was curled up on the corner of the bed, next to the wall. Her normal suit lay in the pile on the floor. Totally unlike Mirai. She folded everything perfectly.

It would have been stupid of me to ask if she was all right. It was quite obvious that she wasn't. So I just stood there, which was pretty stupid in itself. Mirai acknowledged my presence by scooting over to the edge of the bed and trying to stop crying. I sat down and placed my arms around her. Despite her efforts, she continued to sob. She returned the embrace and cried on my shoulder. We sat there for for awhile, only God knows how long, not saying a word, only the sound Mirai's sobs, slowly coming to stop. I wasn't sure what to say, knowing that I couldn't tell her how much I truly care for her. Now was definitely not the time to tell her. Something had happened between her and Sleggar and now he was dead. I couldn't tell her how much I loved her because she needed time to heal. I just didn't want her to latch on to me.

"Bright... I-I'm sorry," she finally managed to warble, breaking away.

"Sorry for what?" I asked.

"For bawling," she answered, hanging her head. "You don't have to worry about me. Just worry about the war. Forget about me."

"No, Mirai. You don't understand. First of all, you are one of my soldiers. Second, you're one of my closest friends." I put my arm around her. "Look, Mirai, I care about you."

Mirai looked up. "You're just saying that."

"No, Mirai, I really mean it."

This made her blush. "I still don't want you to worry about me, Bright."

"It's not that easy not to worry about something you're already worried about. Don't feel sorry. Sadness is part of human nature. Cry all you want." Mirai suddenly embraced me again and the weeping started all over again.

But I couldn't say what I wanted to say so badly. I couldn't admit the feelings that I had kept bottled up inside for so long.

"Mirai, I don't really mean to pry, but if you want to talk..." I trailed off. She shook her head "no".

"That's okay. I understand. But when you're ready to talk, I'm ready to listen. That's what friends are for."

She looked up. "We are more than friends. But I did something stupid, and I--" Mirai stopped abruptly and shook her head again.

I decided that it was time to let her work out her own feelings. I let go of her and stood up. "You can talk to me when you want to, okay Mirai?"

Mirai smiled and hugged me again, which surprised me a bit and made me blush.

"Thank you, Bright," she whispered in my ear.

"You're welcome, Mirai. I'll always be right here waiting for you."

I remember when first I told her that, about maybe thirty or so minutes ago. I don't know, I'd lost track of time. Why had I chosen then? Why couldn't I have said it earlier? If I had jumped in that slim window I was "given" between Cameron and Sleggar, would things have turned out differently?

I walked numbly back over to the bridge. Marker and Oscar said they'd keep watch, and to go rest. I nodded, not feeling the need to argue and I headed to my room. Once there, I plopped down on the bed and tried to figure out my thoughts.

When I first met Mirai, my reaction was that this was the the type of girl I'd like to date. She was pretty, smart, and willing to help others. During the first two months I had known her, our relationship was strictly friendship. She was the person I was closest to, being strictly military with the others. But it was when I fell ill that our relationship changed. She took care of me more than a friend normally does. I was finally able to admit to myself that had more than just a little crush on her. Mirai acted as if she too had more than a crush on me, but once I recovered, our relationship went back to being friends. Very close friends, mind you.

That friendship became very rocky when I found out about Cameron. I thought I knew almost everything there was to know about Mirai, but there was one little thing she forgot to tell me: she was already engaged to someone, thanks to her parents.

I mean, you just don't forget those kinds of things. But she didn't tell me on purpose. She didn't want to marry Cameron and thought maybe she wouldn't ever have to.

After we arrived in Side Six, he promptly visited the ship in order to tell us the regulations. However, I didn't know that this guy was the man I was competing with at first. Of course, Cameron recognized Mirai on the bridge, and things just went downhill from there.

But there was that window of time, after Mirai dumped Cameron...

I rubbed my forehead, trying to soothe away the headache that was coming. But there was no way to stop the heartache I was suffering. Even though I don't know what happened between Mirai and Sleggar, I still felt pity for her.

There must have been this hidden attraction she had for him. So hidden that even I didn't know about until it was too late. I'm not sure what she saw in him. What he called flirting, I considered sexual harassment. Mirai never seemed to enjoy him "flirting" with her. And what about that slap he gave her? She just didn't want Cameron to give involved in a battle.

I tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible. I have to stop myself from going back to Mirai's room to try to comfort her. I was at the point where my feelings didn't matter anymore. If she loved him more than me, I didn't care. All I wanted was for her to be happy, which she wasn't right now. I really wasn't a very good person to cry on.

But I've done all I could. Even though I was trying not to be selfish, I technically was. I was putting Mirai before everyone else. What about the others? Amuro's becoming exhausted, Sayla's depressed, Hayato's hurt... It was time to give up.

I ended dragging a blanket to the bridge, hoping maybe I could sleep there. Maybe the further I was from Mirai and the closer I was to the bridge, I could focus on the war.

The next morning, Mirai gave me a forced smile as she joined me on the bridge after I called a battle alert.

"Mirai, are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm sorry for making you worry. Working again will be helpful for me."

"You're probably right," I agreed, "Remember, you can always talk to me, Mirai."

"I'm grateful to you, Bright. That really means a lot to me," she replied.

I smiled back at her, but realized that I had to do what she did. She had returned to her post, and I needed return to mine.

I had often thought that if there wasn't a war, maybe things would be different. But if there wasn't a war, I never would have met Mirai. She would have married Cameron. I would just be some military student.

However, what would happen after the war? We couldn't just go back to our old lives. I tried to push these thoughts out of my mind, but they kept creeping back. I finally came to a decision: if we both survived the entire war, I was going to tell Mirai what I truly felt for her. I needed to take that chance, but not now. Now was the time to focus on the battle that was ahead.

The daily skirmishes we faced did indeed help my mind focus, but I soon faced another problem: Sayla was really Char's sister. Even though I did the best I could to assure her that I still trusted her, she didn't believe me. Who could blame her?

However, I still was at a loss with Mirai. She apparently didn't want to talk to me about what happened, and I didn't want to pry. Our conversations were mostly about the war and how Amuro was fairing in battle. Although she was trying to return to her normal, she still was acting cold and distant.

Then it stuck me like a ton of bricks. Maybe I was the one with the communication problem. I hadn't been able to express my feelings in the words that Mirai wanted me to say. And I had missed my chance to say it.

More chaotic days followed, and the war finally ended on New Year's Day. The _White Base _itself was destroyed, but we made out live on the transport ships.

I took off my normal suit and promptly sat down on the small ship's couch. Mirai did the same and sat down next to me. "Bright..." she started.

"Yes?"

She looked up into my eyes. "I think that I'm finally ready to have that talk."

I almost wanted to say, "Now? In front of everybody?" but caught myself. Everyone was out of earshot, plus they were making a lot of noise in celebration and Amuro was letting out yelps as Sayla tended to his wounded arm. So instead, I just said, "Okay."

"I think we got our signals crossed," Mirai said.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, you said that you were waiting for me, but I was waiting for you to..." she trailed off.

I nodded. "I think I understand. I know that I should have said something."

"I could have said something too, but I was just so confused." Mirai shook her head and looked down. "I never meant to break your heart."

"Mirai, you didn't break my heart," I said, a bit surprised.

"Don't lie; I at least hurt it," she replied.

I sighed. "I guess so. Still, I should have said something, but I thought that you weren't over Cameron."

"Bright, I was over Cameron before I joined the _White Base_ crew."

"Another thing I should have know," I concluded to myself. "But what happened with--"

"I still not ready to talk about Sleggar, though," Mirai interrupted. "Yes, I admit, something happened between us and I now regret it." She looked up again. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes were staring into mine and weren't brimming with tears, though I thought they would. The promise I made myself flickered in my mind. We both survived the war, and Mirai was past the point where she might just latch onto me.

Then came the part where I had to form my feelings into words, the thing I had the most trouble with. I'm sure she wanted me to just be blunt and say it, but I felt it need a bit of a lead-in.

"Mirai, you know that you're my best friend, but we're closer than that. And now that the war is over, I can't quite imagine life without you." Whew, that was hard to say and I wasn't even done yet.

She nodded contently, but I could tell she was pleading me to continue.

I made a quick perimeter check. No one seemed to see us, which was nice. The last thing I needed was a audience.

"I love you, Mirai," I finally managed to say.

She leaned in close. "I love you too, Bright." Before I knew what was happening, my lips met hers and we were kissing. She wrapped her arms around my neck and without thinking, I slid mine around her waist.

After awhile, we had to pull away, and Mirai rested head on my chest. "Do you know how long I was waiting for this?" she asked in a soft tone.

I just smiled, as the rest of the _White Base_ crew realized what was going on.

Well, what do you think? Sorry if Bright seemed a bit OOC. I tried to kept him in character as much as possible, but I'm sure my opinion affected the story. I felt that the song fitted his relationship with Mirai quite well. Bright basically quotes the lyrics. This originally started off as an angsty monologue, but I decided to give it a happy ending. I hope it wasn't too rushed. I know that it probably would have taken a longer time for Mirai to get over Sleggar. Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!


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